Since the 1990s, international s upply chains have experience d tremendous progress owing tochanges in the division of labour and the globalising economy. In order to enjoy the benefits offree trade, intermodal freight transport system is advocated and introduced to provide efficientjust-in-time door-to-door long-distance services in a more environmental-friendly manner. This paper aims to build a research framework on intermodal transport in the context of citylogistics. The paper tries to clarify the interactive relationship of intermodal transport and citylogistics through a comparative discussion of th e intermodal transport share, intermodal andcity logistics policies, and gove rnmental initiatives in the European Union (EU), the UnitedStates and Japan.